Sari's Side Story
by Bookworm Gal
Summary: Set after "Where's Thy Sting" but before the end of "Predacons Rising," it describes some of what Sari is doing during this time period, as she deals with all the changes to her life.


**For all of you who watch Transformers Animated, you must have wondered where Sari vanished after "Transwarped." I mean, they do some really cool things with her and then she vanishes for several episodes without a word. What was she doing all that time? I decided to create my theory of what was going through her head and why she wasn't hanging out her friends and enjoying being a teenage robot. This takes place after "Where's Thy Sting," but before the end of "Predacons Rising." (Basically, it's the time period where Sentinel Prime was hanging out on Earth.) So, let me know what you think.**

Sari's Side Story

Blue. Definitely blue.

Her eyes were blue now. No getting past that. Her hair was shorter too, but it was a good look. And she was taller, a lot taller. Not as tall as her friends, but still tall. There was no way to deny any of it.

She had gone from eight straight into her teenage years in three seconds flat.

Oh, and she was now robo-girl.

Sari turned away from the mirror and groaned inwardly. Okay, technically she had always been part machine, but now she knew it. How do you deal with that knowledge? Well, if you happen to have a key charged with Allspark energy, you give yourself and upgrade. After all, what's the worst that can happen?

She shuddered as she remembered the feeling of her glowing blue blade slashing into the side of her best friend. The horror of what she had done left her speechless, unable to scream or cry at her uncooperative body. All that power had made her lose control of her actions and Bumblebee had nearly paid the price for her stupidity. She hurt her friend and made the key useless. Everything was ruined.

She was essentially hiding out as Sumdac Towers right now for two reasons. One, Sentinel Prime was in town, and his negative attitude towards organics did not bode well for her if he found out she was a techno-organic. Second, she was trying to deal with all the changes, and her actions, that had piled up in such a short amount of time. She was still eight, on the inside, but on the outside, she was a teenage, robotic, destructive _monster_.

Sari shut her eyes tight and forced those thoughts out of her head. She opened her blue eyes and stared around her room, glad to have it back. After Powell kicked her out of her home, that stupid Masterson used her room as an office. It was now in the process of being converted back, so it looked like a combination of a child's room, a geek's den, and she didn't know what. Sari pulled a stuffed animal out of a pile robotic parts and collectible action figures, and she held it tight. The memory of stabbing Bumblebee, of being so out of control and unstoppable, kept appearing in her mind. The red-haired girl shook her head sharply, trying to forget.

Sleep. She should go to sleep. She would feel better in the morning. Maybe that glitch-head, Sentinel Prime would be gone. Crawling into bed, which seemed smaller than she remembered, she forced herself to relax. Taking deep breaths, the part-Cybertronian girl drifted off into an uneasy sleep.

The sky was red with the glow of the flames. All the nearby buildings were rubble. Sumdac Towers, in the distance, looked like it was two seconds from complete collapse. Sari was standing on a pile of twisted metal. It looked like every Decepticon had attacked the city at once. She could even see a few suspicious jets in the sky still.

Sari looked around for any friendly signs of life, human or Autobot. Finally, a grey figure caught her eye and she felt cold. She scrambled down the rubble, scrapping her knees and not caring. The lifeless body of Optimus Prime lay mangled and torn at the bottom. Sari grabbed the key she had kept around her neck since she first met her friends. She had once saved him from near death before, but this time it was not working. The tiny piece of metal was useless, nothing but a memento of its past power. No matter how hard she tried to get it to work, Optimus remained a lifeless shell of his former glory. Tears began to slide down her face as Sari glanced around looking for help, but found only more heartache.

About to shout, hoping maybe she could find Ratchet and he could help her, her cry died in her throat as she spotted more grey forms. Ratchet was not far from where Optimus had fallen. Prowl had a horizontal slash, nearly cutting him in two. Bulkhead was riddled with similar cuts, and was a bit farther. All were grey, empty, and dead. Sari could feel tears rolling out of her blue eyes at an alarming rate. They were all gone.

"Ssssaaarrrriii?"

She looked up at the sound of her name. She knew that voice, she would recognize anywhere. She ran, stumbling through the wreckage. It was too much to hope for, but she had to know. If there was a chance that…

She finally spotted what she was searching for. A patch of yellow in the grey and red landscape. Bumblebee, looking almost bad as the rest of the Autobots, was still on-line. He so badly damage, with a slash that reminded Sari so much of the one she had given him. She knelt beside him. She tried her key, because she could do nothing else. The powerless device did nothing to help her friend. Why couldn't she help him? How can she save him?

She pulled her hands up to her face, and bowed into her eight year old desires. She cried. She cried over her fallen friend, her inability to help, and how if she had not been so stupid, she could have used the key to save them. A shadow fell over her as she knelt. She did not have to look and didn't. She knew who it was, somehow: Megatron.

"Very good job, my newest Decepticon," he praised. As he said these words, Sari pulled her hands down. Her eyes were no longer the bright blue color they had been, but were instead a glowing blood-red. She felt her body transform into its more robotic form. She understood now. It wasn't the Decepticons who had hurt and killed her friends, who had destroyed her home.

It was her.

"Now, finish the job," Megatron commanded. Bumblebee stared into her soulless eyes, searching for his friend.

"Sssaarrii, ppleeasssse," he whispered with his failing strength.

Sari simply stated in a monotone voice, "As you command, Lord Megatron." She brought her glowing red blade straight down into his spark chamber.

"NO!" Sari wanted to shout, but somehow prevented herself from verbalizing horror and terror. Her heart was pounding and she was shaking. She was in bed, in her room. Everything was exactly as it should be. Except her. What she had done in the nightmare, it was horrible. Her friends, she killed them. She was a monster. It was too much.

She got out of bed, still shaking at the memory. She caught sight of herself in the mirror. Blue eyes met her gaze. Blue, like her friends, like all the Autobots she had ever seen. Not red or hateful like the Decepticons, or like her dream. On her dresser, by the mirror, sat the key, and it was a reminder of the dream.

Sari picked up the key. She remembered all the good she had done with it, all the pain she had stopped, and all the help it had given to the Autobots. She remembered what Optimus had once told her, when he had returned the key to her. "The key chose you for a reason."

Sari closed her eyes and took a deep breath, calming her still racing heart. With all the good the key did, would it have chosen a potential murderous monster. She didn't think so. It would have chosen someone who would put it to good use as well. Okay, maybe it had been too much for her to handle, but it changed her. She was stronger and older than she used to be. Maybe it was the key's way to let her help more. She hoped so. She didn't want her dream to come true, so she wouldn't let it.

With renewed determination, Sari laid the key back on her dresser and went back to sleep, untroubled by her dreams.

**I just wanted to come up with a reasonable excuse for her absence, and Sentinel Prime was a good reason for me. I also knew that she would likely still feel guilty for hurting Bumblebee and rendering the key useless. So, I thought she should have a chance to work through it. Let me know what you think.**

**P.S. I own nothing.**


End file.
